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Why I love databases

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Re: Why I love databases

#11

Post by pessimizer »

quonn wrote: post #9
applecore wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of the fields you've listed are largely about the representation of data. A database is simply data that's structured to support an algorithm that models some aspect of reality based on that data.

Sure you can say, everything inside a computer is about representing data, so all is the same. But it's not particularly useful to do that.

>you can say, everything inside a computer is about representing data

hence: "The study of databases intersects almost every topic in computer science"

Re: Why I love databases

#12

Post by Slackwise »

I've always loved databases, but after having discovered write-only timestamped databases like Datomic, I can't imagine going backwards. It's a real shame that Datomic isn't fully open source.

(Aren't BigTable and Spanner also write-only and timestamped?)

Re: Why I love databases

#13

Post by quonn »

pessimizer wrote: post #11
quonn wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure you can say, everything inside a computer is about representing data, so all is the same. But it's not particularly useful to do that.

>you can say, everything inside a computer is about representing data hence: "The study of databases intersects almost every topic in computer science"

I just claimed this point of view is useless, so you can't just pick it up as if I agreed.

Furthermore data representation in that broad sense is more related to data structures, not databases.

Really, we all know what a database is. It is something very different from, say, a block cipher.

Re: Why I love databases

#14

Post by gaius »

jandrewrogers wrote: post #4

Nice article. I love databases too for similar reasons but, as someone that designs database engines, some of the technical points are off the mark. I never really stop learning in this area, the technical range is incredibly deep and nuanced. Some of the points that caught my eye as being quite off: - Contrary to footnote 2, modern database designs bypass the OS file system cache and schedule their own I/O. This has…

Oracle talks directly to NFS servers bypassing the OS file access layer altogether these days, just using a socket, reading and writing from a huge chunk of memory it's grabbed off the OS on startup, and now manages itself.

Re: Why I love databases

#15

Post by [deleted] »

quonn wrote: post #13
pessimizer wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>you can say, everything inside a computer is about representing data hence: "The study of databases intersects almost every topic in computer science"

I just claimed this point of view is useless, so you can't just pick it up as if I agreed. Furthermore data representation in that broad sense is more related to data structures, not databases. Really, we all know what a database is. It is something very different from, say, a block cipher.

[deleted]

Re: Why I love databases

#16

Post by T-R »

gfodor wrote: post #10

"Designing Data-Intensive Applications" is shaping up to be an excellent treatement of modern databases and their underpinnings. It's at an excellent level of abstraction, deep enough to convey database internals while high level enough (so far at least) to be able to cover a wide variety of database systems. It also has its feet firmly planted in database history, and is NoSQL-koolaid free. Highly recommended. http:…

When you say "NoSQL-Koolaid free", do you mean "focuses on Relational" or "treats the topic objectively/academically"?

Re: Why I love databases

#17

Post by collyw »

Slackwise wrote: post #12

I've always loved databases, but after having discovered write-only timestamped databases like Datomic, I can't imagine going backwards. It's a real shame that Datomic isn't fully open source. (Aren't BigTable and Spanner also write-only and timestamped?)

Ok, assuming write-only means what I think it does, what is the point in a write only database? /dev/null/ is write only.

Re: Why I love databases

#18

Post by JadeNB »

quonn wrote: post #3

"The study of databases intersects almost every topic in computer science" - I've heard this before, especially for Compilers. But it has been false for a long time, CS is far more diverse now. For example, how do Databases intersect AI/Machine Learning/Computer Vision, Computer Graphics, Numerics/Simulation, Robotics, Bioinformatics, Computer Architecture or Cryptography?

> how do Databases intersect AI/Machine Learning

I am not in any way a computer-science expert, but surely these topics have substantial overlap? (For example, a machine that is learning must store its accumulated knowledge somewhere.)

Re: Why I love databases

#19

Post by windowsworkstoo »

collyw wrote: post #17
Slackwise wrote: post #12

I've always loved databases, but after having discovered write-only timestamped databases like Datomic, I can't imagine going backwards. It's a real shame that Datomic isn't fully open source. (Aren't BigTable and Spanner also write-only and timestamped?)

Ok, assuming write-only means what I think it does, what is the point in a write only database? /dev/null/ is write only.

Probably just means "immutable"

Re: Why I love databases

#20

Post by wtetzner »

collyw wrote: post #17
Slackwise wrote: post #12

I've always loved databases, but after having discovered write-only timestamped databases like Datomic, I can't imagine going backwards. It's a real shame that Datomic isn't fully open source. (Aren't BigTable and Spanner also write-only and timestamped?)

Ok, assuming write-only means what I think it does, what is the point in a write only database? /dev/null/ is write only.

I think he means append-only. You can add data, and you can query data, but you can't mutate.
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